Ships in the Night
by OniNoKo
Summary: [One-shot] Modern AU: A simple choice can change your life forever. But when you let fear and doubt make that choice for you, you might end up passing on what could have been the love of your life.


**Hi,**

 **Before you start reading, I would just like to say that this is not a typical Jelsa story.**

 ** _DISCLAIMER:_ The characters Jack Frost and Elsa belong to Dreamworks and Disney respectively. I own only the plot of this story. **

**ENJOY!**

* * *

 **SHIPS IN THE NIGHT**

Whoever had passed the law prohibiting smoking in public spaces was either a crazy environmentalist or yet another politician seeking to appeal to potential voters.

That, or they had some sort of personal vendetta against Jack.

He remembered a time when smoking in restaurants had been perfectly acceptable and nobody had protested. Especially in posh restaurants such as this one, whose patrons were unlikely to include families with children.

One thing was for sure though – right now that person was his number one enemy because all Jack wanted to do was to light up.

Within ten minutes of his arrival at the table, he'd ordered scotch on the rocks in hopes it would alleviate the nervous feeling in his chest. But it did little to calm him. Moreover, it tasted rather dull. Even more so without a cigarette between his fingers.

He took the old-fashioned glass from the table and shook it gently, swirling the amber liquid inside. The clinking sound of ice cubes knocking against crystal drowned in soft jazz and background chatter before he took a sip. The familiar burning sensation trickled down his throat but didn't give him the usual satisfaction. His eyes flicked to the entrance of the restaurant for what felt like the hundredth time and he let out a sigh as he placed the glass back atop the fancy and almost blindingly white tablecloth.

Was it even appropriate to order a drink before his date had arrived? Perhaps it wasn't a very polite thing to do. He couldn't remember the rules of dating. Then again, he also couldn't remember the last time he'd been on a date. The past year and half had been occupied mostly by work and unhealthy habits, while sexual needs had been either pushed aside or numbed with the occasional one-night stand.

That's what two divorces in under ten years do to you.

Not counting the financial impact and the months of emotional pain and anguish.

It didn't matter who divorced whom. The result was always the same – he was left picking up the broken pieces of what used to be his life.

His first wife, Aurora, had done the most damage. She had crushed his spirit and his ability to fully trust anyone but himself. She had also been the reason for his treacherous smoking habit and his borderline concerning taste for alcohol.

He'd met Aurora as an optimistic twenty-five-year-old celebrating his first big promotion. Talk about good timing. To this day, he still wondered if she'd been able to sniff out his professional potential and the size of his future paychecks, because within moments of meeting him at that bar she had been all over him like bees on honey.

His relationship with her had started with an earth-shattering orgasm…

…and had ended in bitter disappointment and devastating loss.

Looking back, he realized how clear the warning signs had been. That woman was a world-class gold-digger and he pitied any poor sucker who'd had the misfortune of catching her eye. However, at the time, he'd naively believed that Aurora had held the key to the family he'd so perfectly envisioned. So, he'd given her the big wedding she'd demanded, the house she'd wanted, and he'd blindly satisfied every whim of hers. All for the prospect of having a couple of kids and maybe a dog.

For three years, they had tried to conceive. Unsuccessfully. When even a fertility specialist had failed to diagnose a problem, he'd been about to suggest adoption. But their marriage had instead taken an unexpected turn when he'd stumbled upon Aurora's prescription for contraceptives.

And so, his first divorce had taken away his house and a considerable amount of money and left him with severe trust issues.

His second wife, Rapunzel, had been a sweet girl, albeit a bit of a hippie. He'd met her at a yoga class to which he'd been practically dragged by his little sister, Emma, who had become sick and tired of the unhealthy, miserable state Aurora had left him in. In fact, Rapunzel had been the class instructor and had quickly become the reason for his newly found appreciation for yoga. He'd particularly enjoyed the Downward Dog pose. Surely, he'd nearly pulled a muscle the first time he'd tried it but the glorious view of Rapunzel's butt rising in the air had been totally worth it.

After two years of dating and enjoying mind-blowing sex with the petite, deliciously flexible brunette, he'd finally proposed. He'd hoped that her cheerful character and positive outlook on life would help him regain bits of his old self. For a while, he'd even stopped smoking and drinking.

Unfortunately, the damage caused by his first marriage had run deeper than anyone had suspected and, a year following their wedding, trouble had started. His constant fear of betrayal had steadily grown into paranoia and possessiveness which had eventually seen Rapunzel packing her bags and filing for divorce.

And now here he was… on a date.

He was getting too old for this and he was too set in his ways. The thought of somebody new disrupting the status quo bothered him.

So, then why had he agreed to this?

Oh yeah, because Emma was a puppet master of the highest order and he'd never been able to say 'no' to her.

' _Third time's a charm'_ – that's what she had said after telling him matter-of-factly that she'd arranged for him a blind date with the older sister of a colleague of hers. When he had protested and stated he wasn't looking for a new relationship, Emma had simply given him the time and place of his date, warning him to be punctual. The only detail he'd received regarding the woman he was meeting had been her name.

Elsa.

Sighing, Jack glanced at his watch.

Well, it seemed Miss Potential-New-Girlfriend had made a wise choice and spared them both the awkwardness of this blind date.

He downed the remainder of his now diluted scotch and signaled the waiter to bring the bill. Five minutes later he walked out of the restaurant.

The approaching winter had brought colder nights. He pulled up the collar of his coat and reached into his pocket for the pack of cigarettes he'd been craving for the past half hour. He scrunched his nose at the sad sight of the last remaining cigarette before popping it in his mouth – he was certain he'd bought the pack only this morning. He discarded the empty box in a nearby garbage bin and pulled out his lighter. The soft glow of the flame briefly illuminated his face, as he lit up. He sucked in deeply, letting the toxic smoke fill his lungs, and then exhaled slowly. Bliss.

…Only, it didn't quite silence the strange disappointment he was feeling right now. He might have been hoping for something to come out of this date after all.

Shaking his head to himself, he took another long drag of the cigarette and pocketed his lighter. Maybe a walk would do him some good. He looked at the still populated street ahead and started walking towards the old part of town. His eyes briefly traveled towards the sky in hopes to find stars but the light pollution of the big city could offer nothing but murky clouds.

He brought the cigarette to his lips again and was just about suck in another lungful of poison, when something… some _one_ unexpectedly collided with him, causing him to drop the remainder of his cigarette on the sidewalk.

"Pardon me!" a sweet feminine voice said breathlessly and just like that the curse he'd been about to mutter melted away.

He looked down just in time to catch a glimpse of a dainty porcelain face – plum colored lips, flushed cheeks, and a pair of gorgeous, big blue eyes.

And then she brushed past him, strands of platinum-blonde hair fluttering in the wind.

As he watched her go in the direction he'd come from, an intense sensation flooded his chest. A sensation he hadn't felt in years.

But he ignored it and continued walking, cigarette all but forgotten.

* * *

The combination of cobblestones and high heels was _not_ a girl's best friend. And neither was a pencil skirt when you were trying to walk fast. With every step, Elsa was questioning the sanity of whoever had designed those clothing items, and by extension her own too since she had been the one to pick them out for herself.

She missed the good old days when a simple dress and a pair of flats were considered a perfectly suitable attire for a first date. _This_ was not the outfit she would have selected five years ago, when coincidentally her latest first date had occurred.

The rhythmic click-clack sound of heels hitting stone, echoed off the walls of the buildings in the nearly deserted street, each step threatening to send her falling over. She glanced at her watch and huffed in exasperation. Was it even worth risking breaking a leg? She was already late.

As if on cue, her left heel slipped and her ankle bent outwards, causing her to lose her balance and nearly grant the pavement a close encounter with her backside. She winced in momentary pain and took a second to straighten herself up before she resumed her brisk and determined advance.

In her defense, when she had planned her outfit for the evening she hadn't exactly foreseen she would chicken out at the last moment and seek refuge in the old part of town. Maybe next time she should pack a pair of yoga pants and running shoes, seeing as she liked to run away from uncomfortable social engagements and, generally, most of her problems.

Twenty minutes earlier, the taxi had dropped her off right in front of the restaurant. All she'd had to do was to get out of the car, take the few steps to the entrance, then go in and have nice dinner and a hopefully pleasant conversation with a man she could potentially get to know better.

It could have been as simple as that…

…had it not been for her crippling doubt and questionable idea of self-worth manifesting themselves just as she'd been about to enter the restaurant.

The moment she'd gripped the door handle, a little voice inside her head had whispered _'What makes you think this one will be any better?'_

Precisely this little voice had been the reason why, while her friends were getting married and having babies, she had spent the past three years with only a vibrator as a companion. If only she had the strength to view every man as simply a life support system for a penis, then at least she wouldn't have to buy batteries every month.

Loneliness, self-doubt, and distrust.

Such was the aftermath of two miserably failed long-term relationships before the age of thirty.

The ungraceful downfall of her love life had begun in her second year in college with her first-ever serious relationship – a relationship which had laid the foundation of her insecurities.

She had met her soon-to-be boyfriend, Tadashi, at a science fair hosted by the university. In hindsight, she should have seen the handwriting on the wall. However, his scientific brilliance and charming persona had captivated her instantly and to the point of blinding her to the obvious. At the time, she had been too enamored to notice that anything beyond friendship with him would be doomed from the start.

Yet friendship had grown into romance, suspiciously quickly at that, and for two years everything in their relationship had appeared well.

…Except for sex.

On the rare occasions when they would be intimate with each other, Tadashi would either fail to perform or fail to satisfy her. She had lost count of how many times she'd been left to finish the job on her own.

Aware of the fragile the male ego, she had decided to take matters into her own hands and spice things up. One fateful evening, armed with a set of black lingerie, accentuating every part of her body a male would consider sexy, and only a trench coat to cover her, she had headed over to his apartment. Of all things that could have gone wrong with this scenario, she had never imagined she would walk in on Tadashi naked and bent over by none other than the quarterback of the university's football team, both sweaty and moaning with pleasure.

Thus, she had wasted two years being used as cover by a man, who'd been too afraid to come out of the closet, and then spent the next two years trying to recover from the experience.

But the person who had demolished her chance of ever trusting a member of the opposite sex again had been the very man she'd thought she'd marry.

Hans – a smooth talker seven years her senior, whom she'd met at a business conference.

Oh, how she wished she could go back in time and refuse that drink he'd offered her at the post-conference reception. Then she would still have her dignity.

Always the perfect gentleman, he'd been a master of deceit, who'd know exactly what to say and do to get what he wanted. Like a predator smelling fear, he'd pinpointed her insecurities and used them to his benefit. Showering her with gifts and attention, he'd spoken worlds of love, which she had foolishly believed. In return, she had readily satisfied his sexual needs.

Alarm bells had never gone off in her head and within a year and a half, he'd had her convinced she had found the missing piece of the puzzle that was her dream life. The perfect husband to provide her with a suburban home, a couple of kids and maybe a dog.

However, after two years of dating him, instead of a marriage proposal, she had received a surprise introduction to his wife. There was nothing quite as humiliating as being called a whore, gold digger, and homewrecker while you're naked and scrambling to collect your garments as the real culprit got away with it.

Such experience had required deep emotional cleansing and a fresh start. As way to reinvent herself, she had moved back to her home town, found a new job, and discarded anything reminding her of her old life.

As of half an hour ago, the only thing she regretted about this transformation was reconsidering her fashion choices. Her current outfit would be the death of her.

She could have spent the evening wearing comfy slippers and drinking hot cocoa. Unfortunately, her little sister, Anna, had decided to play matchmaker and disrupted her peaceful existence by arranging a blind date for her. To make matters worse, Anna had refused to disclose any details about the man in question besides his name.

Jack.

Inhaling a lungful of the cold evening air, Elsa quickened her pace.

' _Third time's a charm.'_

The thought had crossed her mind just as she had reached the center of the old town and had realized she needed to at least give this man a chance before automatically labeling him an asshole.

Hence her labored journey back to the restaurant.

After what seemed like forever, she finally reached the main boulevard. She tried to catch her breath, while she waited to cross, and her eyes glanced impatiently in the direction of the restaurant. The pedestrian light turned green and she strode forth much to the dismay of her already blistered feet. These shoes were not meant for walking.

She bowed her head, watching her step. The tiles of the sidewalk were far more forgiving than the cobblestones but she still wanted to avoid making a show for the passersby. Focused on walking as fast as she could, she completely ignored the world around her and only came back to reality when she slammed into another pedestrian.

"Pardon me!" she said apologetically.

In the brief moment she glanced up at the stranger, she caught sight of unusual silver-white hair, strikingly handsome features, and a pair of piercing bright-blue eyes which made her breath hitch.

Her heart fluttered and intense warmth spread through her. A feeling she didn't believe she would experience ever again.

But then her mind re-engaged, reminding her of her task, and she continued walking.

Hopefully, her date would still be waiting at the restaurant.

* * *

 **A/N: Just to be clear - smoking isn't good for you. Also, I fully support smoking bans.**

 **Something I need to point out is that this story is meant as a ONE-SHOT. I do not intend to write a sequel. **

**The idea for it came to me nearly a year ago and I wasn't going to write it. But two weeks ago inspiration struck. I just had to write it and, honestly, right now I feel liberated. I really wanted to explore a scenario in which Jack and Elsa never actually meet. It was something I had to put out there... I don't know.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed :)**

 **Special thanks to my lovely husband for proofreading!**

 **Oni out.**


End file.
